New App Lets You 'Walk With Dinosaurs'

17 June 2013, 12:07

A new app will let people see themselves walking with dinosaurs on the Isle of Wight.

Dinosaur expert Dr Steve Sweetman, from the University of Portsmouth, has helped create the app which has been designed for a new dinosaur trail on the Island.

The Dinosaur Island Trail app, for phones and tablets, will use augmented reality technology to allow visitors to the island to take photos of themselves and see themselves standing next to the dinosaurs that were found at that spot, 130 million years ago.

The app will work at six coastal locations on the Isle of Wight.

Multimedia company Appshaker, who have worked with National Geographic, have developed the app, which interacts with electronic chips embedded in posts at various points along the trail which will be launched to the public on Friday.

Dr Sweetman, a palaeontologist, said:

"I am thrilled to be involved in such an exciting project.

"As a resident of the Island I do a lot of my work here, and have found many new species on the Island.

"These include eight new dinosaurs, one of which was a very large and fearsome relative of velociraptor.

"To be able to share my knowledge of the dinosaurs and other creatures that lived here millions of years ago is always very rewarding."